Stefanus Nashama
In preparation for conducting the 2025/2026 Namibia Household Income and Expenditure Survey (NHIES), the Namibia Statistics Agency (NSA) requires N$50.8 million from the government for the next two financial years.
The agency further revealed that N$43,1 million has been made available for the pilot survey, logistics, training and other related costs for the 2024/2025 financial year.
The NSA’s Statistician-General, Alex Shimuafeni, announced this at the media conference on Wednesday in Windhoek.
“For the 2024/2025 financial year, N$43 184 910 was made available for the pilot survey, logistics, training, and other related costs. For the 2025/2026 and 2026/2027 financial years, an amount of N$50 859 729 will be sourced from the Namibian government for the NSA to undertake the 2025/26 NHIES,” he said.
The NHIES programme, a 12-month exercise for seasonal variations, will be conducted in all 14 regions.
It aims to provide socio-economic indicators for planning, policy formulation, decision-making, and research to eradicate poverty and income inequalities in the country.
The programme will commence with a pilot survey from 30 September until 18 October.
The pilot survey will only be conducted in eight regions to cut costs. These regions will be selected based on different dynamics.
According to Shimuafeni, the main fieldwork for the NHIES programme will run from 17 March 2025 until 17 March 2026.
Around 171 temporary staff for the main fieldwork will be recruited for NHIES.
This includes 24 field staff for this year’s pilot survey, as well as 147 field workers for 12 months next year.
Shimuafeni emphasised that unemployed Namibians in their respective regions would receive such opportunities.
He said that no vehicles will be hired during this NHIES program, as is customary in Census exercises.
Shimuafeni urged the nation to cooperate and provide correct information for accurate data.
“Through the NHIES, we will be able to describe the living conditions of Namibians using actual patterns of consumption and income as well as a range of other socio-economic indicators,” he said.
NSA’s Deputy Statistician-General, Ottilie Mwazi, emphasised the importance of the NHIES programme in the developmental framework.
“Without accurate data, we are not able to determine the gap between inequality, expenditure and income in the country,” she said.
She emphasised that the purpose is to obtain accurate information. Providing correct information is critical not only to the NSA but also to the government for planning and developmental programmes.
According to the NSA, the 2025/2026 programme is the fifth of this type of survey to be conducted in the country.
It will be conducted under the jurisdiction of the NSA, with the government as the main sponsor.
